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Thursday, March 07, 2013

Georgia Town To Require Families To Own Guns

A small town in Georgia, with just one police officer to its name, is set to force all heads of households to own a gun. The Family Protection Act will require families to "maintain a firearm, together with ammunition." Of course there will be exceptions: people who object on religious grounds and convicted felons. This should be a 2nd Amendment and gun advocate's dream, but being forced to own one turns the issue into 'big government', as resident Lamar Kellett put it, after officials said they would not enforce it:

"Why have an ordinance if you're not going to enforce it? What's the point? This is big government at its worst. Government mandating what a free individual can and will have in his home."

Lamar has no problems with gun ownership, just being told he has to own one.

Since the town is situated in two counties and the one police officer only works his 8 hour day, the other 16 hours leave the town vulnerable. Per Councilman Duane Cronic:

"When he's not here we rely on county sheriffs--however it takes a while for them to get here."

Kennesaw, Georgia has had that law on the books since 1982, though it has not been enforced. According to Kennesaw police, around half the town owns guns. A gun ownership law was also passed in Virgin, Utah in 2000, again not enforced, although 95% of the population there were gun owners prior to the law passing.

It would be interesting to note what the crime statistics are in those towns, and how it will effect Nelson, Georgia.